The Power of Showing Some Attention

Attention isn't just about being physically present, it's about being emotionally and mentally available. It’s about seeing children, hearing them, and responding in ways that make them feel valued. When a child feels seen, they feel safe. When they feel heard, they feel important. And when they feel important, they thrive.

Showing them, attention opens the door for them to share with you their dreams, goals and secrets.

Some of the benefits of showing attention are:

Build trust.  Children know and sense those they can trust.  

Build self-esteem. It lets them know they matter. 

Build emotional support.  We all need someone we can process our emotions with. 

How Can We Show Attention?

We know that our days can be busy and hectic.  It can be hectic for children as well as adults. 

When children want to talk, be present and listen.  Feedback is not always necessary.

Ask them about their day and be present and list. 

During our sessions at Girls and Boys of Character, we begin with a Check-In.  This is when the children are encouraged to share their day with us.  Most days, we don’t need to do much encouraging!  

They come in ready to share with us and the group of how their day went. (Maybe one day, we’ll share some of their days with you.  (With their permission of course.) 

Some of the children must be given either a time limit or a limit to the number of things they can share about the day.  If not, we won’t’ get anything else done. 

During our Check-Ins, we were able to observe patterns in our children that would later help us to build their social skills, increase their problem-solving skills and self-esteem.

The benefits were well worth the time we spent giving them attention. 

Make it a point to ask your children how their day went.  Or ask if there is something they would like to talk about. 

I think you’ll reap the benefits too. 

Picture credit: Nathan Dumlao@Unsplash.com